KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Two defensive stands by the McKendree Bearcats allowed them to down the Truman State Bulldogs 28-21 on Saturday.
 
The Bulldogs entered the fourth quarter down 28-14 but Dylan Hair found Kel Battle for a nine-yard touchdown pass to close the gap to seven with still 13 minutes left to play.
 
Truman State forced a three-and-out but the Bulldogs' next possession stalled at midfield forcing a punt with eight minutes left.
 
McKendree churned down the clock with a long drive but the Bulldogs got an interception on third down when Jake Closser picked off a pass at the seven and returned it 20 yards to give Truman the ball back with 2:40 left to play.
 
Hair made the biggest play of the drive with a 27-yard rush down to the Bearcats' 22 but following the two-minute timeout, threw for the endzone and was picked off by Keshawn Lyons.
 
The Bulldogs had their full complement of timeouts and was able to force a punt with 1:11 showing.
 
Starting at the 50, Denim Cook caught a pass and rumbled 22 yards down to the McKendree 24.
 
Truman faced a fourth and 11 with 16 seconds left but converted on a 16-yard run by Hair.
 
Following a spike, the Bulldogs had two chances for the touchdown but both passes fell incomplete.
 
The score was tied after the first quarter with McKendree taking the opening possession and driving 75 yards in 14 plays before Eddie Clark raced in from 16 yards out.
 
Cook tied the game on a one-yard run on Truman's next drive.
 
The Bulldogs went up 14-7 when Hair scored on a seven-yard run early in the second quarter.
 
McKendree then engineered a 15-play drive that consumed over six minutes before tying the game on a Clark 2-yard touchdown.
 
The Bearcats then forced a quick three and out and took advantage of a short field with Jay Ford bringing in a 13-yard pass reception touchdown to put McKendree on top at the break 21-14.
 
Truman's promising start to the third quarter ended when Jack Barnhart stepped in front of a Hair pass and made the interception at the McKendree 32. They would turn that pick into points later in the quarter on a short pass to Ford that chewed up over six minutes of action.
 
McKendree dominated the time of possession with nearly 36 minutes compared to Truman's 24. The Bearcats were 50% on third downs, converted both fourth down tries and scored touchdowns in all four redzone chances.
 
Clark rushed for 131 yards and McKendree totaled 191 rushing yards on 47 attempts.
 
Cook finished with 80 yards on 16 attempts and Hair was right behind him with 78 yards rushing on 15. Hair completed 16-of-24 passing attempts for 139 yards with Joseph Spaulding, Jackson Overton and Cook all nabbing three catches.
 
 
The Bulldogs see their four-game winning streak snapped and will look to rebound when they welcome Lincoln (Mo.) University back to Stokes Stadium for a noon kickoff next Saturday.